At times, our purpose or direction in life may be less clear than others. There can be many influences that can cast a pall over our existence, taking us to murky places we may not choose to go.
When clouds of uncertainty cause us to remain stationary, especially at a time when we sense a calling to break out from the stale, opaqueness of indecision, we may be able to rely only on seemingly random opportunities to help lift the veil of almost vituperative stagnation and open our senses to hear the calling that helps to define our purpose and set us on a path to feed an urge to identify with that purpose and open that urge to its floral equivalent we call “passion.”
How many of you are living passionately? How many of you have experienced a period or moment of deep passion? Has there been something in your life, not necessarily of your choosing, that has altered the trajectory of your life’s path?
Last week, Parashat Pekudei (to attend, muster, number, account for) concluded with the “cloud” that contained the spirit of the Almighty appearing in the midst of the now completed Tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting while that cloud was present. When the cloud dissipated, the Israelites were allowed to pack up and continue their travels. So ends the Book of Exodus.
This week, the 24th weekly section of our cycle of the Torah reading begins the Book of Leviticus. Vayikra (to call, call out, cry out) provides us with such an elegant connection between the cloud of mystery and the certain inner voice that connects us to our purpose.
When I read, see or hear the seemingly unending “truths” that our information platforms force on us by the hour, I can relate to what our Israelite ancestors might have been experiencing when uncertainty and danger was forced on them with every step they took, every word that was spoken or every “natural” event that they faced.
We all have various tolerance levels for what we term TMI (too much information). TMI can come at us like a firehose, or like a mist that wraps us in shroud or cloud of confusion. When our senses become overwhelmed, it may become necessary to shut down and reboot.
Instead of ceding to vulnerability, in that time when your mind has been clouded, embrace the solitude. Hold your space as a sacred radius where you can gain calm and introspection. Listen to yourself, your breath, your heartbeat. Get in touch with and ahold of yourself.
That ringing in your ears might be your brain reacting more to the lack of noise than the deafening silence of fear, mistrust or anxiety. Try to relate with it, embrace it and maybe you can redirect your brain to be more in tune with who you are rather than what others try to tell you who you should be.
Take a look around. There are so many people who have experienced life-altering events not of their choosing but chose to identify them as opportunities to ignite a passion toward a new path.
The cloud in the Tabernacle was necessary to allow the Presence of the Almighty to influence Moses intrinsically. Once Moses adapted to that reality, he was commanded to “call out” to the people, opening their ears and eyes to a new pathway, a pathway to clarify their fledgling religion, moving them closer to that Promised Land of Peoplehood.
Shabbat Shalom.
